Iowa WR Matt VandeBerg Out Indefinitely With Foot Injury

Derek Young

09/27/2016

Iowa wideout Matt VandeBerg out indefinitely with a foot injury that occurred in practice.

Big news hit Iowa City early this week as Iowa receiver Matt VandeBerg has been ruled out indefinitely after suffering a foot injury in practice on Monday. VandeBerg leads the Hawkeyes in receptions, receiving yards, and receiving touchdowns.

Kirk Ferentz released a statement about the injury.

"It is unfortunate that Matt will miss some time due to his injury,” said Ferentz. “We know that Matt will work extremely hard to get back on the field as soon as possible. We feel confident that some of our younger receivers will step up in Matt’s absence.”

It is clear that the brunt of the load will be picked up by Jay Scheel, Riley McCarron, and Jerminic Smith, three wideouts that have seen a good amount of snaps already in the 2016 regular season. The next guys up would appear to be Ronald Nash and true freshman Devonte Young. The expectation at this point is that we definitely see more regular snaps for Nash, at least early on.

Nash was referred to as an up-and-coming wideout by cornerback Desmond King earlier today. King expressed confident in Nash's ability. Nash is a transfer from Iowa Western Community College and a walk-on with the Hawkeyes.

The Iowa players were struck hard by the news that VandeBerg would miss significant playing time following his injury Monday night but they did show confidence that they would grow from this and had faith that the young receivers would step up.